Filipinos have been urged to "consolidate sense of community" and rebuild democracy to avoid the "evils" of Martial Law from repeating themselves.

This was the topic during the forum "Curbing the Pandemic of Disinformation: What Really Happened During Martial Law" which was held online last April 21.

During the forum, Filipinos who had first-hand experience during the Martial Law era shared their experiences and warned others against the spread of disinformation or fake news.

Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law and erstwhile judge of the International Criminal Court, championed "personal truth" as the best weapon against the war on disinformation.

He said that disinformation is the only reason why the perpetrators of Martial Law have been "kept alive and prosperous all these years."

"We must consolidate our sense of community as a people bound up in each other lives and futures... spread the word, and never lose sight of the power of the word,” he said.

UP Professor Emeritus and writer Dr. Jose "Butch" Y. Dalisay, who spent seven months in prison when he was only 19 years old, traced back the origin of disinformation 50 years ago. He said that many Filipinos are sadly complicit to its spread. "Without complicity, no dictatorship can endure for that long," he said.

Meanwhile, Diwa C. Guinigundo, former deputy governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, contradicted the news that there were no arrests made and that the Martial Law era was the golden age of Filipino economy.

"There is no truth to the claim that there were no arrests made, and that nobody was killed, and that nobody abused power during this period,” he affirmed. "Even I was arrested," he lamented.

Guinigundo cited figures from Amnesty International which cited that there were 72,000 individuals arrested, 34,000 tortured, and 3,000 killed.

As for the news that the Philippine economy was in an upswing back then, Guinigundo said: "We engaged in massive infrastructure projects for show and the opportunity to make money."

However, he said that the Philippines found itself in a debt trap. "Truth can build a nation but lies tear it down," he warned.